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Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Two weeks to prepare

In between returning from Indonesia and jetting off to New Zealand, I had two weeks to finalise my preparations for walking the Bibbulman Track. Because 4 days after I return from New Zealand I begin.

I'd already decided my packing list and my itinerary, but much still depends on whether a new bridge over a major river will be built in the next three months. If not it's a 30km plus diversion, which is a rather long hike to do in one day. The old bridge burnt down in Feb 2015 and they've just raised the money to rebuild it.

So for a good week I spent all day every day dehydrating food, packaging it up using ziplock bags or a vacuum sealer into individual servings, and distributing meals into the 10 food drops I'll need for the 2 month walk.

I got mightily sick and tired of the high pitched whine of a glorified hairdryer in the background, and couldn't bear to hear it going all night, and then it died. Luckily, a friend stepped in to lend me hers, plus I began using my oven as well, and then my dehydrator began working again. So for a day or two I had all three going full bore. I shudder to think what the electricity bill will be...

I learnt how to make beef jerky in the oven. It's extremely easy, and so awesomely tasty that I had to immediately package it all up before I ate it!

I experimented with a few instant pudding mixes, because camping without dessert options is just plain criminal!

I made my own quinoa savoury protein energy bars, which also got quickly wrapped and popped in the freezer before I demolished them.

And then I packed my backpack, minus a couple of items of clothing (some thermals I'm taking to New Zealand first), and weighed it, complete with all the food for the first 8 days, but minus water and a few electrical items which I'm still undecided on taking.

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Hazel

My best friend and constant companion for the last 15 and a half years. She's now sleeping on a bed of seaweed in a quiet spot in my garden. I'll miss my best friend and I'll never forget all those wonderful times together.